Philip I's reign coincided with Rome's millennial celebrations of 248 AD, and provincial mints across the eastern empire — including smaller Bithynian centers like Hadriani ad Olympum — issued bronze coinage bearing his name partly in connection with that propaganda push. The magistrate name preserved in this coin's legend, Aurelius Draucus Epaphroditus, is rare enough in the epigraphy of the city that this coin itself functions as primary evidence for his tenure as protos archon.
Philip I's reign coincided with Rome's millennial celebrations of 248 AD, and provincial mints across the eastern empire — including smaller Bithynian centers like Hadriani ad Olympum — issued bronze coinage bearing his name partly in connection with that propaganda push. The magistrate name preserved in this coin's legend, Aurelius Draucus Epaphroditus, is rare enough in the epigraphy of the city that this coin itself functions as primary evidence for his tenure as protos archon.